NY Times Sparks Firestorm With Editor’s Note On Front Page Photo of Emaciated Gaza Child
(Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via AP)
The New York Times sparked a firestorm of controversy this week when it added an editor’s note to a report from last week titled, “Gazans Are Dying of Starvation.”
“We have appended an Editors’ Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below,” read the Times release on X, which added:
Children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, as New York Times reporters and others have documented. We recently ran a story about Gaza’s most vulnerable civilians, including Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who is about 18 months old and suffers from severe malnutrition. We have since learned new information, including from the hospital that treated him and his medical records, and have updated our story to add context about his pre-existing health problems. This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation. Our reporters and photographers continue to report from Gaza, bravely, sensitively, and at personal risk, so that readers can see firsthand the consequences of the war.
The photo of al-Mutawaq ran by the New York Times also appeared on its front page and went viral online. Other outlets, including Sky News, The Guardian, and The Times of London, also ran photos of al-Mutawaq in their coverage of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Times’s editor’s note sparked both a bevy of criticism over its failure to immediately report the full context of the image and led to many defenders pointing out that the editor’s note did not in any way contradict that al-Mutawaq is malnourished or the reports of widespread famine in Gaza. Critics were also quick to point out that the Times published the original report and image on its X account, which has 55 million followers, and only a week later added additional context on its communication account with 89,000 followers.
Below are some reactions illustrating the debate, from across the political spectrum:
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